Reviews

We have just received the latest Lone Star release “ Man In White vol.3 – Get Dirty “. This CD contains the August 14th, 1970 midnight show in Las Vegas and recorded from the audience. There are also five bonus tracks from the same Vegas season. The inside cover mentions that “ Man In White –vol.4 “ is coming soon but no further details on this.

By August 13th 1970 dinner show the major filming for “ That’s The Way It Is “ was completed. However they kept a camera crew at the International since the original movie had some shots from the August 13th 1970 midnight show ( Elvis wearing the Fringe jumpsuit ), namely the shot from the balcony where the pink dressed lady jumped in Elvis’ arms ), some from the August 14th 1970 midnight ( shots from the back during Polk Salad Annie with Elvis wearing the “ Chain jumpsuit “ with the red Ladder Belt. I suspect the back shot during “ One Night “ in the original movie ( filmed above Elvis’ belt ) to be from August 14th 1970 dinner show with the rare “ Metal Eye “ jumpsuit. There are also several inclusions of the August 13th 1970 midnight show in the “ That’s The Way It Is – Special Edition “.

Given the above this new CD is giving us an idea of what MGM might have in their vaults even though all the shows from August 13th midnight onwards were only “ partly filmed “. Elvis is very loose and has a lots of fun throughout the whole show.

It starts with a very good version of “ That’s All Right “ followed shortly after with “ Amen “ (one liner) and saying “ They think they know me so well ya’ know and know everything that I’m gonna do…” and starts with “well….when I said I got “A” “ and telling to Jerry Scheff “ Jerry, Jerry you don’t know man ! “. “ I Got A Woman “ is next and this is a great version of the song where Elvis messes up the ending on purpose and says “…you don’t know me that well “ which leads into a 23 seconds version of “ You Don’t Know Me “ and back to the song finale after a bit more fooling around. Elvis announced an “ old song called Tiger Man and goes like this “ and starts to hear the intro ( a long one ) of “ Mystery Train/ Tiger Man “ ( Good version! ).

“ Welcome to the International Ladies and Gentlemen my name is Johnny Cash “ he says and followed by a medley of “ I Walk The Line / Folsom Prison Blues “, which unless mistaken is the longest version I heard from this medley at about 1:33 min. We have then a long monologue/Love Me Tender/monologue of nearly 11:00 minutes followed by a very good version of “ Johnny B. Goode “. Next is a few lines of “ Blueberry Hill “ followed with “ The Wonder Of You “ containing the famed line “ You give me hope and constipation “, then “ You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling “ and “ Polk Salad Annie “ are next. He mentioned before the latter song that “ Now we’re gonna get dirty, we’ve been so clean all night….”.

Elvis introduces his band and after introducing Millie Kirkham he goes into an excellent version of “ Oh Happy Day “ ( this version appeared on the LP “ Command Performances “ in the late seventies ). We are now getting to the oldies with “ All Shook Up “, “ Blue Suede Shoes “ and “ One Night “ (strong version) before the dramatic and powerful “ Bridge Over Troubled Water “, a very good version of “ Suspicious Minds “ and the usual closing number “ Can’t Help Falling In Love “.

There are five bonus tracks on this CD from the August 1970 Vegas Season. A short version “ Memphis Tennessee “, a very good version of “ Sweet Caroline “ followed with a rare performance of “ Sweet Inspirations “ done by Elvis right after introducing “ The Sweet Inspirations “. It isn’t a complete version of the song at roughly 0:56 seconds but still interesting to have. “ More “ is only a few lines and rather short and the CD ends with another version of “ Bridge Over Troubled Water “ that is very excellent, one of the best I’ve heard. There’s no mentions of the recording dates for these bonus tracks.

As we can expect from an audience recording of August 1970 the sound is far from being perfect. There are some hisses (mostly noticeable during the quieter parts ) and perhaps a bit too much treble, which isn’t a problem for certain tracks but annoying on some others. I would say the sound quality of this CD is somewhere between “ Have Some Fun Tonight “ and “ International Earthquake “ for those who are familiar with these two releases. I wasn’t expecting to be brought to the Nirvana in terms of sound quality, but still rather pleased with the CD because this is one of my favourite show of the August 1970 Vegas Season. Elvis having some fun, singing a few rarities and giving as well some powerful performances while getting dirty at times.